Monday, April 13, 2015

D&D 5E: The Bagheera,a playable character race

A long time ago my wife came up with the vampiric pantherine bagheera (named after the Kipling panther) for a D&D 4E campaign. Below I present a 5E version for future use:

Bagheera

A shifted demihuman species that was bred through magical
means to attain primordial traits, including pantherine and batlike qualities.
They are descended from an arcane culture of sorcerers and necromancers who
imbued their creations with a vampiric lust for blood and magical longevity.
The bloodthirsty and cannibalistic half-humans eventually turned on their
masters and in turn became the masters of their realm, using humans as chattel
until religious wars between zealous factions laid the civilization low and
sent the survivors of the great war scattering across the known world.

Traits:

Attributes: +1 Dex,
+1 Con

Speed: 35 feet; the long legs of the bageera let them sprint faster than normal.

Racial
Abilities:

Predator’s
Instincts: Bagheera have unusual hearing and a sort of sixth sense.
Bagheera gain advantage on all perception checks rolled to avoid an ambush.

Bloodthirst: Bagheera require the blood of other creatures for
sustenance as food, and do not digest “normal” food normally, though they can
sustain themselves on a carnivorous diet. A bagheera that can not feed on live blood or flesh in the course of
one full day only recovers 1 hit die (instead of 1/2 his hit dice) at the end of an extended rest instead of a
full recovery until such time as he feeds properly.

Sanguine Viciousness:When a bagheera deals damage to a target with zero hit points he may immediately spend one hit die as a bonus action.

Vampiric
Bite: Bagheera can bite, dealing 1D4 piercing damage and using their STR modifier for attack and damage. When biting in this manner the bageera immediately gains temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt. These temporary hit points disappear once used up or at the end of a short or long rest. Using this ability during the day counts as meeting the bagheera's bloodthirst requirement.

The important thing is that in a million years, when the brain-worms of Arcturus IX have annihilated us throughout the galaxy, there will be no surviving recordings of blogs to be found by the cephalopods that evolve to replace us. In this way will their civilization advance and prosper.